About Borders and Stuff
by BSXQ
Summary: AU / Suddenly, Rinnosuke is asked to be a teacher... in an all-girls school. But the school doesn't seem to be like any other, judging from what those Student Council members do.
1. Chapter 1

Hello. This is a Touhou Project fan fiction.

Before the story starts, I need to warn you a few things. First, I am not English. So if my language sucks, I apologize. Second, the characters' personality in this story is based on mostly my interpretation, canon and loosely on fanon, unlike most fanfics in this site (at least, most fanfics I read). If you can't handle them, try to think that this is a drama with Touhou characters as the actors. And third, I will use Japanese honorifics (-san, -kun, -sensei, etc.) as I mostly have no idea how to translate them to English. I use a few exceptions, though. English names use English honorifics, Japanese names use Japanese honorifics. If most people want it to be changed, then I will change it.

The "-x-"mark signs that the PoV of the story changes.

Also, I have no idea what to name this story, so I apologize once again if it bothers you.

**Disclaimer: **Touhou Project belongs to ZUN. I merely own this fan fiction.

* * *

**Touhou Project**

**- About Borders and Stuff -  
**

* * *

**- Chapter 1: Awakening -**

…

…

**BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!**

There goes my beautiful sleep.

I lazily opened my eyes and stretched my body a bit. I sat up to look at my (still roaring) digital alarm clock on my left to see that it's already half to seven in the morning. I pressed the small button on the top side of the clock to stop the agonizing screech.

I stood up and stretched lightly again, letting out a small yawn. I cannot laze around today, as my second year of school has started today.

I brushed my teeth at the bathroom before getting changed to my school uniform and combing my hair. The uniform is just the plain old white and blue sailor uniform. In addition, the school I attend to also provides an optional school coat, which looks like a navy blue business coat. It has the school symbol on the left side. I like to wear it, for some reason.

I also wore black thigh highs, because in my opinion not wearing any thigh highs, stockings, or long socks will leave you very revealed. Considering the height of high school uniforms' skirts, of course.

After grabbing my school bag, I went downstairs to have breakfast. In the dining room, two pairs of breakfast menu can be found on the table along with my mom who slumped to the table. I can hear her snoring lightly.

My mom has long blonde hair, unlike my short one. Her appearance looked like a mess, so I guess she doesn't care about getting ready for work. Sure, she did make breakfast for me and my sister this morning, but actually most of the house chores are done by me. Either my mom wants something from me or she's just trying to not being lazy, which is very unlikely.

I shook her lightly, hoping to wake her up.

"Hey, Mom," I called. "Wake up. You don't want Chen to see you like this, do you?"

A few more tries later, she woke up.

My mom stretched herself and let out a small moan. "Good morning…"

"Good morning, Mom." I replied. "If you want to go to sleep, please do it upstairs."

"I know…" she said after yawning. "For once in a while, I want to cook breakfast for you and Chen. Especially because this is the first day of your second school year."

"You don't cook breakfast for yourself?"

"Too lazy to do it~"

How can someone be too lazy to have breakfast when she hasn't had dinner the night before?

With a sigh, I sat down and started to eat my breakfast, which consists of some rice, eggs and pork. Not soon after, my little sister came down from upstairs.

She is a small girl, just around 3-4 feet tall. Well, she's still in elementary school, so I think that's normal. She has brown hair, unlike my and my mom's hair. I think she got that hair color from her dad. She was wearing her elementary school uniform, which is composed of a white blouse and a red pleated skirt, her _randoseru _on her back.

"Good morning, Sis!" she greeted. Energetic as usual. She then looked at the person sitting across me. "Ah, Mom! Good morning!"

Good, Chen prevented Mom from sleeping again. Way to go, Chen.

My mom, whose sleep has been interrupted for the second time on the day, tried to put on a happy face and greeted Chen back. "Good morning, Chen."

"You woke up this early, Mom." Chen stated. "Is something wrong?"

"N-no, nothing's wrong. Why don't you start having your breakfast?"

"Okay." Chen sat on a chair and started to have breakfast. I looked at my mom and noticed that she doesn't look sleepy anymore. She smiled warmly towards me and Chen.

… This scene feels very nostalgic.

You see, my dad had passed away a few years ago. Since then, my mom became a lazy woman. I got over it, so did Chen and Mom. When my dad is still alive, we usually have breakfast together. My mom doesn't have breakfast; she usually do after me, Chen, and Dad had finished our breakfasts. We would have a chat on what are our plans for the day and the like, with my mom smiled warmly to us.

Oh well. Those were old times; I need to focus on today.

After me and Chen finished our breakfast, I went to the door and wore my shoes, Chen following.

"We're going, Mom." I said. "Don't be late."

"You know me~" she replied.

You'll know what she means later.

I and Chen take the same train because Chen's school and my school are not so far away. So we're going to the same route. The trip takes about 30-45 minutes. Usually Chen takes a nap on the train, while I cover my ears with my headphones and read a novel.

After dropping off Chen in front of her school gate, I went to my high school, Kekkai Gakuen. Near the front gates, I met Sanae-san. She has long green hair with a small frog-like hairclip on it. I keep wondering about why she would wear a frog-shaped hairclip. Her figure is slim and feminine, and I can't help but envy her… chest area. It is considerably larger than average girls in our school. I decided to greet the girl who is at the same year as me.

"Good morning, Sanae-san."

"Ah, Ran-san, good morning." She replied as we walked together in the school. "How are you today?"

"Just so-so."

"But it's our second year attending high school! Aren't you at least a wee bit enthusiastic?"

"You know how the first days of a school year are. Just introductions, introductions, and more introductions." I replied. "If Nagae-sensei will do her introductions, I'd better go to sleep."

"That's just the way she is."

We reached the shoe lockers and changed our shoes before going deeper in the school. "Hey, let's see the class roster first."

"Sure."

The bulletin board is usually where important announcements like class rosters, exam scores, and club applications are posted. Looking at the class rosters, I found out that my class is 2-C, with Sanae-san in the neighboring class, 2-D. The homeroom teacher for Sanae-san's class is Yagokoro-sensei. But for some reason, my class's homeroom teacher is blank.

"That's strange." Sanae-san wondered out aloud.

"Exactly my thought." I said in reply. "I think they forgot to write it down or something."

"Maybe." She commented. "Well, we can just wait until the bell rings and we'll see."

We both went to our respective classes after exchanging goodbyes. Inside my classroom, I was quite amazed by the students inside…

There were the famous duo Hakurei Reimu and Kirisame Marisa. There were also Alice Margatroid, Reisen Something Inaba, Kurodani Yamame, and that Koakuma girl from Sakuya-san's mansion. Those were the people I recognized. Reimu, Marisa, and Alice are chatting to each other. Reimu was sitting at the third row, second column from the door, Marisa at the third column right beside Reimu, and Alice in front of Marisa.

Hakurei Reimu is a member of the Student Council. She will be elected as the chief soon. Or so they say. She has shoulder-length black hair with her trademark red ribbon on the back of her head. She was wearing her school coat, as it usually represents that one is a member of the Student Council.

Kirisame Marisa is quite a troublemaker. She is a class clown that is popular among the teachers because of a bunch of different things. Her long blonde hair is slightly curly. The left burn of her hair is braided and tied with a small green ribbon at the end of it. Unlike Reimu-kun, she doesn't wear her coat often; instead she wears her usual black jacket.

Out of the three, Alice Margatroid is the smartest. She is foreign, explained by her name. Her hair is short and blonde, slightly curly. Some people are fascinated by her beauty, and Marisa blurted out openly that she envies her. Alice has a habit of making dolls. She's very good at it, too. But I still can't understand about one of her creations: a large, pillow-sized plush doll of a disfigured head with a very disturbing expression. She claims that it helps her to take things easily, though I think it will never work for me.

"Oh hey, Ran." Marisa greeted.

"Good morning, everyone." I greeted back as I took a seat in front of Reimu.

"Looks like we're in the same class."

You don't say?

"Yeah." I said in reply. "Reimu, aren't you supposed to prepare a speech or something?"

"Oh, that's right!" Alice said. "You're supposed to be the Chief of the Student Council this year, right?"

"Well, yes, but…" Reimu shrugged. "I'm not elected yet. As for now, the Chief is still Sakuya-senpai. She will be making the speech at the assembly."

Sakuya-senpai… well, she's a great senior. Elegant, intellect, beautiful, kind… She's a perfect example. She's the current Chief of the Student Council. Most students in the same year as me look up to her. Though we can't deny that she can be rather mysterious at times as she is not that open to everyone.

"What about our homeroom teacher?" I asked. "It's written as blank."

"Regarding that, I asked Kamishirasawa-sensei about it." Reimu replied. "She told me that we will have a new teacher. She will be our homeroom teacher. It was a last minute decision, so the staff isn't able to write her name in time."

A new teacher, huh? While Reimu, Marisa and Alice discussed about the new teacher (and making bizzare speculations about the teacher), I noticed two girls that I did not recognize before. One of them is a brunette and the other is a blonde. I don't know who they are, are they transfer students? My thoughts are cut off as the bell rang, signaling that the morning assembly will start.

* * *

"First, I would like to congratulate all my students for being able to advance to the next grade. Everyone has done their best, I believe. In this year, we will have…"

That was my mom.

She was lazing around back at home, but there she is, standing on the podium, looking tidy and giving a speech as the school principal.

She looks (and acts) like a heavy sloth, but she actually does things in time.

She's just taking it easy.

Anyway, just like in most speeches given by school representatives, I dozed off for some minutes. Alice, as a nice friend, woke me up at the right time. They said that Sakuya-senpai's speech was awesome, but sadly I slept through it.

* * *

"She should be here in any minute now."

Looks like Alice is getting impatient to meet the new teacher. Can't say I'm not, though. How does she look like? What does she teach? How is her way of teaching?

"Sorry, I'm late."

The classroom door opens, and…

"Good morning, every-"

* * *

-x-

* * *

"… one…"

I froze.

Wait, no one tells me that this is an all-girls school! Look at this classroom! It's filled with girls!

They're cute, too!

That explains why I only met female teachers at the faculty office earlier!

The students in the classroom gasped, all of them. Must be because I'm the only male in the school… Oh dear.

… I'm sweating.

* * *

-x-

* * *

The teacher is a man? No way… I thought even the teachers are supposed to be female. Reimu were addressing him as "her", too! The man has short, white hair. He was wearing glasses (Yay!). He was wearing a black shirt and a dark blue coat. He was also wearing a pair of black trousers. I must admit that he is quite the looker, but it doesn't feel right when he is your teacher.

"R-Rinnosuke-san?"

That was… Marisa?

* * *

-x-

* * *

Oh dear… even Marisa is in this school?

In this very classroom that I am assigned to?

Why do I suddenly feel like the world is so, so small?

...

...

**- Chapter 1: End -**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **Touhou Project belongs to ZUN. I merely own this fan fiction. If I do have Touhou Project, then Sakuya would have appeared on Ten Desires.

* * *

**- Chapter 2: Backgrounds -**

...**  
**

"… Excuse me?"

"I'm sorry, was I not clear?" I asked. "I said our homeroom teacher is a "he" instead of a "she" like you addressed."

"… Huh?" Kamishirasawa-sensei looked very confused. "Wait, let me guess… Is your homeroom teacher Morichika-sensei?"

"Yes, it is." I replied.

"But that's just…" Kamishirasawa-sensei put her hand on her chin, looked deep in thought. "Morichika-sensei is a substitute teacher-he is not supposed to be able to be a homeroom teacher."

"He just did."

"I know, I know, Hakurei-san." Kamishirasawa-sensei replied. "When I told you that your homeroom will be a new teacher, I was addressing to Kaku-sensei."

"Who is that?" I asked.

"A new teacher, Kaku Seiga. Unlike Morichika-sensei, she is a permanent teacher. So I thought your homeroom teacher will be her." Kamishirasawa-sensei explained. "… But why him…?"

The classes had ended for today, so I decided to ask Kamishirasawa-sensei about my homeroom teacher. You see, until recently, Kekkai High School is a girls-only school. Even the staffs are supposed to be female. The teachers, janitors, securities, and so on. But my new homeroom teacher is a male. As a Student Council member, I decided to get some answers. Since the history teacher Kamishirasawa Keine was the only one who was in the Faculty Office, I asked her instead of asking the principal.

Kamishirasawa Keine has long, white hair with some blue tint on it. She was wearing a blue business coat and a matching blue skirt. Just like I told you earlier, she's a history teacher. A nice one, too. Her teaching method is nice, but I would have liked her more if she doesn't give head butts to bad students. I assure you, her head butt is seriously painful. However, she is generally considered as a good teacher.

"… I will discuss this with the Yakumo-san when I have the time." Kamishirasawa-sensei said as she put her books and whatnots in her bag.

"Thank you."

* * *

-x-

* * *

"How's it?" Marisa asked after Reimu went out from the faculty office.

"Kamishirasawa-sensei doesn't know anything about Morichika-sensei being our homeroom teacher." Reimu replied. "She said that Morichika-sensei isn't supposed to be our homeroom teacher as he is just a substitute."

"I figured as much." I commented.

"Then the only way to find out is to ask the principal or the man himself." Marisa pointed out.

"All right, then." Reimu said. "Ran, can you ask your mother about this? I'm sure that she will tell you about this."

"Sure." I replied.

"Marisa, you go ask Morichika-sensei."

"Eh? Me?"

"You know him, right?" I asked.

"Err… sort of." Marisa said in reply. "We are good friends, in fact. I often went to his shop when I was little."

"He opened a shop?" Reimu asked while we started to walk downstairs.

"Yeah. An antique shop." Marisa said. "Until now, I still can't figure out what exactly did he sell because the stuff he sold looked nothing like antiques. More like outright weird items. There was a… uh… a narga… narghile, was it?"

"What's that?" I asked.

"It was shaped like a big pipe or something like that… Seriously, it's hard to describe the shape in words." Marisa explained. "But he said that it's for smoking."

You know, after listening to Marisa's description, I kind of wanted to check out his shop. Maybe he sells some interesting items.

* * *

"I'm home."

"Welcome home, Sis!" Chen greeted from the couch in front of the TV.

"Is Mom already home?" I asked while I removed my shoes.

"Yeah. She's upstairs."

I bet she's asleep like a sloth she is, even though it's still somewhere around 6 PM. I went to my room and placed my bag along with my school coat before going to my mom's room. (For your information, all bedrooms are upstairs.)

I knocked on her door twice. Seconds passed without answer.

I knocked louder twice. Again, no answer.

I gave up and kicked the door open. The loud sound made her jump from her bed.

My mom was wearing her sleeping dress already, which is a simple long one-piece violet dress. Her blonde hair was in a mess, showing that she was asleep for some time.

"Good evening." I greeted.

"Good evening…" She paused for a yawn and sitting up. "What's with the door kicking?"

"That's the way I wake you up and get inside your room at the same time." I explained. "Anyway, mom, I want to ask you about the new teacher."

"Ooh, Kaku-sensei? She's a nice person, isn't she?"

"No, no, not her, but Morichika-sensei."

"What about him?"

"Are male teachers allowed in our school?"

"There's no rule that there can't be any."

Of course… wait what?

"There's no rule about it?"

"Nope, not at all."

"Then… Why is he my homeroom teacher?" I asked. "He's a substitute teacher, isn't he?"

"You're right about that." Mom replied. "But I have… other plans, you see."

"Like what?"

"Like making him a supervisor."

"For what?"

"You'll just have to wait and see."

"Then… does that mean he's permanent?"

My mom nodded. I'm not sure that I feel kinda happy or feel disappointed. If he is just a substitute, then when his time is up he will be free… But if he's permanent…

"Mom, Sis, dinner will be ready in a moment…" Chen called from the door. "… and what was that loud noise? I was making dinner and I can't leave them while I go check…"

"I just tripped earlier." I can't tell Chen that I just kicked a door.

"Let's just go downstairs and have dinner, everyone." Mom said as she stood up from the bed and went downstairs with us.

* * *

-x-

* * *

It was around 9 in the morning. As usual, I was at my shop, Kourindou, reading that day's newspaper while keeping an eye for customers.

Suddenly, my cell phone rang. I looked at the caller ID. It was Keine-san calling. I immediately picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Hello? Oh, Rinnosuke-san, are you busy right now?" she asked.

I'm almost always never busy these days, because I did nothing but watch over my shop and read numerous literatures. "No. Is something wrong?"

"To be honest, yes." She replied. "Can you come to Akyuu-san's house right now?"

When she said Akyuu-san, she refers to Hieda Akyuu. Her house is not far from my house. In fact, she can still be called my neighbor. I knew her quite well, too. But I can't leave the shop as-is, so I decided to just close the shop for a while.

"I'll be right there."

"Thanks. I'll explain everything once you get here."

Like I said, Akyuu-san's house is not far from my house. I was able to reach her house in less than 15 minutes, including the time needed to close the shop. I knocked on her house's door, and I was surprised that it was Keine-san who opened the door. She let me in and explained everything.

* * *

"You can't be serious." I blurted out.

"Please?" Keine-san pleaded. "Akyuu-san is badly sick, so she can't teach for some days…"

"You don't need to repeat that," I said. "But why me, off all people?"

"Sorry, you're the only one I can think of." Akyuu-san weakly apologized.

I was in Akyuu-san's room. I didn't do anything stupid, considering I'm in a woman's room with two beautiful women. She was lying on her futon, a wet cloth draped on her forehead. Her face slightly reddened due to her fever.

"You majored in Literature, didn't you?" Keine-san asked. "I'm pretty sure you can re-learn the subjects and substitute her for a while."

"I'm not good at teaching."

"I can teach you how to do so."

"I wasn't a good student in college."

"But you got fairly high scores per semester."

"I... uh…" I can't think of more arguments. "I… have a shop to look at?"

"You can close it for the morning." Keine countered again, "You hardly get any customers anyway."

That hurt, but that's the truth.

I lost the argument battle, so I gave in and became a substitute teacher for Akyuu-san.

* * *

-x-

* * *

"… but Keine-san didn't tell me about the school being a girls-only school." Rinnosuke-san-I mean, Morichika-sensei finished. "What's more surprising is that you're in this school too, Marisa. It's been a while."

"Yeah. Kinda hard to believe since our school hardly had any male teachers until now."

I was inside Morichika-sensei's house that evening. In the lounge, to be exact. His house/shop isn't that far from my house, we're still in the same complex. I haven't visited him again since I entered high school, though. His house/shop isn't that big, either, but it's rather cozy. It is also rather tidy and clean.

"Looks like I can't call you Kourin anymore, huh? With you being my teacher and all…"

"Maybe you can, just outside of school. You have to call me Morichika-sensei to avoid suspicion."

"Yeah…" I trailed off for a moment.

"You used to call me Kourin back then. Speaking of which…" he started. "… How are your parents?"

I knew it. He would ask for my dad. I was in a dilemma of telling the truth or telling sugar-covered lies. I decided on telling the latter.

"They're fine." I replied. "My dad is still kinda grouchy as always."

"Ha ha. Some things never change, indeed."

I looked at the clock and noticed that it's getting late.

"Well, I should be going now." I said while standing up.

After some small talk and exchanges of goodbyes, I went home.

* * *

"I'm home."

"You're late." My dad commented without looking away from the newspaper. His hair is short and black. His body is rather large, too. He was still wearing his business coat and whatnots, which means he was home not too long ago.

"I know." I said as I removed my shoes and went to my room. Before I reached the stairs, my dad started to ramble again.

"What were you doing in school? Today is your first day; you're not supposed to come late." He asked. "… Were you messing with 'that' again?"

"... Just a bit." I replied, stopping in my tracks.

"How many times did I tell you?" he asked again, his voice heightened. "Never mess with it anymore! It was a curse!"

"No, it's not!" I fought back. "It's a gift!"

"What kind of gift that blows up everything?" His grip to the newspaper tightened.

"**Both of you, stop!**" My mom shouted. She has long blonde hair which I inherited. Shorter than my dad, wearing a pair of glasses. Just a typical housewife. After me and my dad calmed down, she continued. "… Honestly, you two are like kids. Often fighting because of different opinions."

My dad didn't answer, his eyes was still glued to the newspaper. Seconds of silence later, he started. "… Marisa."

"What?"

"… If you want to stay in this house, stop immediately."

I didn't say a thing and went to my room.

'If you want to stay in this house, stop immediately' he said. Bah. Like hell I will stop. I have to accept it just the way it is. I can't deny its existence.

It's too late to stop me.

…

…

**- Chapter 2: End -**

* * *

**A/N:** Hey, there's that new Image Manager feature. Maybe I'll draw something for this fan fiction's cover some time later.

Another note, while this has nothing to do with the story, I wrote this just for practicing my English. There would be an English exam the day after I wrote this. Instead of studying, I spent the day writing this chapter halfway. The result? I got the highest mark in my classroom. Tee hee.

Lastly, the next chapter will be lighter and hopefully longer, don't worry.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **Touhou Project belongs to ZUN.

* * *

**- Chapter 3: Things Happen -**

That morning, my homeroom was bustling with activities of the students. Some are chatting to each other, some are preparing for the first period, Marisa wasn't in the classroom yet, and nothing was out of ordinary. Except when I realized that Alice wasn't in the classroom, either.

Alice is the awfully diligent type of girl, so I didn't think that she would be late. Marisa being late is sort of usual, so I didn't worry. But if Alice is late, that means either something actually happens or hell had frozen over. I mean, Reimu is usually here before I do, and she claims that Alice is usually already there when she arrives. Now I and Reimu are getting worried.

"… Maybe she is sick?" I suggested.

"I doubt it." Reimu replied with her arms crossed. "We e-mailed each other last night, she seems fine. I also sent one e-mail to her earlier, but she hasn't replied yet."

She does not reply to Reimu's e-mails, and she hasn't arrived yet. You know, I think she's currently asleep or something. Remembering that Alice was never late, I thought that was impossible.

"Good morning!" Marisa's voice can be heard. The homeroom door slid open as Marisa came inside, along with Alice.

"Good morning, you two." I replied. "Alice, you're late."

"I know…" Alice said as she went to her seat. "It's a pain to wake Marisa up… She passed out after last night."

Oh, all right. Wait a minute… 'Wake Marisa up'? 'Passed out after last night'?

"… What did you guys do last night?" Reimu asked, with a tone of suspicion. Looks like she thought the same thing as I did.

"Huh?" Marisa asked with a raised eyebrow as she sat on her seat and removed her black jacket. "… Oh, no big deal. I just moved to Alice's."

"Eh?" is me and Reimu's expression.

"She moved to my dorm last night. It was rather sudden, too." Alice explained. "After moving her belongings, she just passed out. This morning, when I was about to go to school, I noticed that Marisa hadn't come out from her room. So I just had to wake her up…"

"With a kiss?" I suggested.

"What? No!" Alice's face suddenly reddened. "Why would I kiss another girl? I still haven't had my first kiss, you know!"

"No need to be so defensive, Alice." Reimu commented. "You too, Ran. Stop teasing her."

"Yeah, yeah." I waved her lecture. "I was just joking."

"Why did you move to Alice's dorm anyway?" Reimu asked to Marisa. "I thought your house isn't that far from here."

"No big reason." Marisa replied as she crossed her arms. "Besides, I'm usually late. Alice's dorm is closer to the school, so I will (hopefully) less likely to be late."

I doubt it. Back then, in our first year of high school, Reimu did try to wake her up via a wake-up call. We thought that either Marisa is deaf or her phone was put in silent mode because there was no answer. Turns out, it was neither. When Marisa heard the loud ringtone that Reimu had set for her, she threw her cell phone to the wall half-asleep, deactivating it immediately. The phone was safe and sound, but she received a head butt from you-know-who at school.

"All right, settle down everyone."

A teacher came from the door. She has short, shoulder-length deep purple hair. Her business coat is shocking pink, and her skirt is black. She was carrying some books. We all immediately knew who she is: Nagae Iku, arts teacher. You see, most second-year and third-year students finds her rather annoying while a few refers to her as an eccentric teacher. She just likes to 'read the atmosphere' like she said. But that leads to highly exaggerated expressions and lectures which everyone dislikes. No one hates her, though. We just hope that she isn't so… energetic.

"I'm pretty sure everyone knows me already," she started as she put her books on the podium. "I am your one and only arts teacher: Nagae Iku!"

Then she made a pose. Right hand pointing up high, left hand on the hip which tilted to the left for a bit. It sounds absurd, but believe me, it looks even more absurd. Be grateful that this is a wall of text.

"Oh, but maybe the two of you didn't know me yet." She regained her normal posture as she looked at the two students at the back. "Have you two introduced yourselves yet?"

"No, ma'am." The one with brown hair replied slightly nervously.

"Then why don't you two go here and introduce yourselves?" Nagae-sensei suggested, gesturing to her right.

The two students hesitantly went to the front of the classroom. One has short, brown hair while the other has short blonde hair.

"Um…" The blonde started. "My name is Maryberry Hearn. I'm from overseas. Pleased to meet you." Then she bowed.

"Would you mind writing your name on the board?" Nagae-sensei asked as she gave a piece of chalk to her. The blonde girl-Maryberry, was it? -accepted the chalk and wrote her name on the board. As expected, her name was written entirely in _katakana_, indicating her foreign name. To be honest, I don't know how her name is written in _romaji_. It just said "_Maeriiberii Haan_", she never writes her name in _romaji_. Also, I don't think she expected herself to write her name on the board for introductions. It only happens in Japan, with alternate _kanji _readingsand whatnots… I think.

"My name is Usami Renko." The brunette introduced herself. "Unlike Mary here, I'm not from overseas, obviously. I'm from a neighboring town." Miss Maryberry passed the chalk to Usami-san and then she began to write her name in _kanji_.

"Right, that should be enough for now." Nagae-sensei commented. "Any questions for these two?"

"Um… Miss Maryberry," Udonge-I mean, Reisen started after raising her right hand. "How do you write your name in _romaji_? I have some trouble figuring it out…"

"Oh, that," Miss Maryberry responded. "Don't worry about it too much. If it troubles you, you can just call me Mary like Renko did."

…

* * *

-x-

* * *

…

I was walking to the faculty office after giving my introduction to class 2-D. Unlike back at 2-C, though, everyone in the classroom did not gasp… much. Maybe the girls from 2-C already told everyone about it? I'm guessing that's the case. This is my third day teaching in this school, anyway. After Akyuu-san recovered from her sickness, I will be back as a shopkeeper.

I was spacing out for a moment, thinking what I will do as a homeroom teacher from now on. Even though I'm not here for long, I still need to plan it out. My train of thought was suddenly derailed and crashed as a teacher suddenly bumped at me and dropped her books. Along with my glasses.

"Ah! I-I'm sorry…" she said before crouching down and quickly gathering her books one by one. I can't see clearly who she is, but I can take a guess. The blur in front of me has a white and blue tint on it, which made me recognize who she is.

"Keine-san?"

"Sorry, Rinnosuke-san…" she apologized again as she fastened her book gathering pace. I decided to help my childhood friend collecting her dropped books; my glasses can come later. Moments later, the books were neatly stacked on her right as she started to search for something else. "Your glasses…" she mumbled.

How nice of her, trying to look for my glasses, too. I was searching for it, too, but my limited eyesight got in my way from doing it efficiently. Not long after, I noticed that I and she were dangerously close to each other. Especially our faces. Will this be like one of those cliché plots of romance _manga_? Now that I think about it, we were friends for long. We had known each other since we were still studying in the same university. Sometimes we visit each other to talk. She is kind, warm-hearted, beautiful, smart, and-

"Ah! I found your glasses!" Keine-san announced from below my head. "Here you go, Rinnosuke-sa-"

* * *

-x-

* * *

"… and boom! Head butt!" Marisa ended her story with a boom.

Everyone who listened to her winced, including me, Reimu, and Alice who ate our lunches together in the classroom. The four of us had connected four tables to form one large table to eat together. While eating, Marisa had told us what she saw before this lunch break began. She was going to the restroom. On the way back, she saw Kamishirasawa-sensei and Morichika-sensei together at the hall. She decided to hide and eavesdrop. Marisa claimed that she was holding her laughter when Morichika-sensei fainted.

"That explains why he is in the health room right now." Alice commented as she munched a piece of pork with a chopstick. "Kamishirasawa-sensei's head butts hurt a lot."

"Yeah." I said in response. "Everyone says that. I never experienced it, though. I just knew from your experience last year, Marisa."

"Don't bring it up." She commanded before drinking water from her bottle. "It hurt like hell."

The classroom door slid open, and a familiar figure came inside. She is taller than the four of us. Her hair is short and silver. The long side burns of her hair is braided and tied with green ribbons on the end. Her school uniform is tidy, complete with the coat. Izayoi Sakuya, our senior.

"Reimu, Marisa," she called.

The four of us perked up. Reimu responded, first. "Oh, Sakuya-senpai. What brings you here?"

"Nothing exceptionally important, but I hope you two can come to the Student Council room after school." She said. "There are some things to announce. If you two are busy, we can postpone it until tomorrow."

"Marisa," I called with a slightly low tone. "We have a group assignment, remember?"

I was reminding her of an assignment given by Yagokoro-sensei yesterday. She divided the classroom into groups of four and gave different tasks to each group. I was in the same group as Marisa, along with Koakuma and Reisen. Koakuma offered to do it in the library of her mansion as there will be lots of references there. We all accepted the offer. Marisa suggested that we complete the assignment as soon as possible, so we decided to do it after school today.

"Oh, that's right." Marisa said in reply. "… Sorry, senpai. Looks like I'm busy."

"I'll go." Reimu announced. "I'll tell you the details via e-mail afterwards."

"Then it's settled." Sakuya-senpai said. "I'll contact Youmu and Sanae to come, too. See you later." Afterwards, she left and closed the door.

"That was fast." Alice commented.

"That's just the way she is." I responded. "She always does things on time. She must have planned this meeting beforehand."

We chatted and ate our lunches until the lunch break ended and classes start again. The next class is biology; the teacher was Kazami-sensei… Hoo boy.

* * *

"Sorry to keep you waiting." Koakuma apologized as she came with a tray. There were four cups and a jug on it. "Here's the tea."

"Thanks, Koa." Marisa said in response as Koakuma put the tray on the table.

Koakuma has long blood-red hair that reaches her back. She removed her school coat earlier, revealing her regular school uniform. Her name isn't actually "Koakuma"; it is just a nickname we use. Basically there were some events in our first year that make us call her "little devil". No one but the teachers call her by her real name. She also complained to us that since we started to call her Koakuma back then, even the mansion people started to call her Koakuma. Now I'm willing to bet not many people know her real name unless they looked at my class roster.

Marisa (who were appointed as the leader of the group), Koakuma, Reisen and I were at the Scarlet Mansion. After school, we went here immediately together. The Mansion isn't very far away; it is just around an hour by train from near the school. Like I said before, we gathered here to complete the assignment Yagokoro-sensei gave us. It was just about some basic definitions around chemistry.

We were at the library part of the Mansion. To be honest, it was rather dimly lit even though it is clean. It is rather untidy, though, with some of the books are stacked on the floor instead. Bookshelves by bookshelves line up at the sides, some chandeliers hanging on the ceiling. A table can be found near the far end of the library. It was full of stacked books earlier, but Koakuma had moved them somewhere else. In my opinion, instead of a library, this huge room looks an awful lot more like a workspace, but Koakuma addressed it as a library.

"So, where should we start?" Reisen asked. "We got the task of explaining about the Aufbau principle."

Inaba Reisen is another classmate of mine. She has long, waist-length pinkish hair. Not sure if pink or purple, it's somewhere around that. She was wearing her uniform complete with her coat. An interesting thing to note is her striking red eyes. There were some people who claimed that her eyes are intimidating, but the majority of people from our school find it just fine. Also, since Reimu and Marisa heard Yagokoro-sensei calling her Udonge, we sometimes use that in a joking manner. At first Reisen was surprised of us knowing about the nickname, but now she just recognizes it as a friendly nickname.

"It is rather complicated." Koakuma commented as she flipped through some pages of her book. "But it is just electron configuration like back in our first year."

"The Aufbau rule is used to differentiate A group and B group atoms." I explained after reading the book I borrowed from the library. "Because if we use the same method as the one we use last year, we can't recognize whether the atom is in A group or B group."

"… Looking at these samples, it really does look complicated." Marisa commented while looking at the book she borrowed.

My phone vibrated for a moment from my coat's pocket, so took a look at it. My mom sent me an e-mail, asking when I will get home. If you're curious, the e-mail was almost unreadable unless you're used to her style of typing. I replied her e-mail, saying that around dinner time I will be home. After the short texting, I put my phone on the table.

"Well, I'm sure we can soon understand about this." Reisen said confidently.

"Can't we just ask Miss Knowledge?" Marisa asked Koakuma.

"She's not home yet…" Koakuma said in reply. "Besides, she's a physics teacher, remember?"

"Considering she has these kinds of books," I said. "I think she has at least a general idea of it."

"Speaking of Miss Knowledge…" Reisen trailed off for a moment. "… Koakuma, can I ask you something?"

"What is it?"

"I'm curious about… how this mansion works."

I was wondering about that. This is the Scarlet Mansion, but the only Scarlets in the house are Remilia and Flandre. The other mansion people have different last names; some are foreign and some are Japanese. So I'm curious, too.

"What do you mean?" Koakuma asked.

"You know, like how the Scarlet sisters and Miss Knowledge are related." Reisen explained. "And how you and Sakuya-senpai lives in this mansion."

"Oh… that." She said. "Well… it's a long story."

"Care to tell us about it?" Marisa urged. "I'm kinda curious, too, now that you mention it."

"We still have work to do, don't we?" She tried to reason.

"We got plenty of time to finish it." I said.

Koakuma sighed in defeat. She looked at our curious faces one more time, and then sighed again. "This isn't a story that I can tell to anyone…" She started. After noticing our slightly disappointed looks, she continued. "… but I think I can trust you guys to not to tell everyone about it."

"You can trust us." Marisa ensured.

"Okay…" Koakuma said one more time before starting her lengthy story.

* * *

I don't know much about the details, as I joined the mansion the latest. I can only tell you how Miss Patchouli had told me. Is it fine for you?

It was many years ago. I don't know exactly how many years it was, as Miss Patchouli never told me the exact date. The Scarlet family had lived somewhere at Europe (again, Miss Patchouli never told me where exactly it was). The father was working and the mother tends the home, which was also a mansion. As you may have guessed, the Scarlet family is, in fact, an awfully rich family. Miss Patchouli was an acquaintance of the family, but I'm not sure why. I guessed that it might be family relations of something like that. Nonetheless, Miss Patchouli was good friends with the Scarlet parents back at Europe. Miss Patchouli may be somewhere in her college days at that time.

One day, the Scarlet father was promoted on his job and had to move to Japan. Planning to stay in Japan permanently, he bought another mansion in Japan. Yeah, it's this mansion. The old mansion in Europe would be some sort of a vacation house. The Scarlet parents prepared everything before they move. Some of their belongings were sent, a kindergarten for Remilia was found, proper language education in Japan, and so on.

After all the preparations are ready, the whole family took a flight to Japan. The flight didn't go well. The plane crashed somewhere in Japan; the Scarlet mother passed away immediately and the Scarlet father was dying. Miraculously, the Scarlet sisters, despite their young age, were able to be saved. Miss Patchouli (might be with her family, but she just said "I") immediately took flight to Japan to visit the hospital where the Scarlet family was treated.

The father was able to tell Miss Patchouli to take care of the young Scarlets for him and everything else before he died. Coincidentally, Miss Patchouli was applying for a scholarship and got one in Japan. So she decided to take care of the new mansion along with the Scarlet sisters. The Scarlet family's relatives approved the fact that the money would be inherited to Miss Patchouli. Strange, I know; she must be a really trusted person. But nonetheless, with the money with her, she sold the old mansion for extra money.

Miss Patchouli hired some maids to take care of the mansion while she went to college. She also hired one to babysit the Scarlet sisters. The one who took the job to babysit the sisters was exceptionally young. As you may have guessed, she was young Sakuya-senpai. She was an orphan looking for a job, despite her young age. I guess Miss Patchouli was sympathized or something that she accepted her to work as a babysitter. Young Sakuya-senpai also worked as one of the maids. Sakuya-senpai said that she chose to work here because you get to live here, too. She was in desperate need of a home. As time passes, the Scarlet sisters think of her as a big sister. Miss Patchouli started to recognize her as another family member instead of a babysitter or a maid. Their trust started to build, and then Sakuya-senpai was promoted as the chief maid in her young age. Miss Patchouli assigned her to go to school, too.

As for me… well, let's just say that I was looking for a job, too. Miss Patchouli, as she finished her studies and started to be a lecturer, became busier and unable to keep her agenda in check. So she decided to look for an assistant. It was me who accepted it. I was living alone before, so I don't mind to live in this mansion. It is fancy, anyway. Just like the case with Sakuya-senpai, as time passes everyone treats me like another family member and Miss Patchouli sent me to school.

That's about everything.

* * *

"… Woah." Marisa blurted out. "I didn't know there was something like that… It sounds like a drama plot."

"You're telling me." Koakuma said in reply.

"So that's how all of you gathered in this mansion…" Reisen commented.

That was an interesting story. Though I have no idea why it is not a story that can be told to everyone. I felt like there was something missing, but I couldn't get my fingers on it. I felt like some parts of the story were purposefully untold. I wanted to ask her about it, but I don't want to pry to other people's business. There must be a reason why she hid it, doesn't it? Besides, I don't have an urgent need to know about it anyway.

"Well, we should go back to what we were doing." Koakuma said.

"What was it?" Marisa asked.

"Our assignment." I reminded.

"Oh, that's right."

* * *

"I'm home." I announced before removing my shoes.

"Welcome home." Chen announced from the couch. My mom was beside her. They were both watching TV.

"Ran, why didn't you reply to my e-mail?" Mom asked.

"I did." I proceeded to the stairs.

"The second one?"

"Huh?" There was a second e-mail? I froze on my tracks, near the stairs. "Which one?"

"I sent you an e-mail a few minutes ago to ask where you were, but you didn't reply." My mom explained. "I was about to tell you that dinner was almost ready."

"But I didn't get any e-mail on my way home." I said as I reached my coat's pocket to get my cell phone.

…

…

… It wasn't there. I froze again for a moment.

"I'm going back to the mansion." I announced. "I left my cell phone there."

"Eh?" Both my Mom and Chen were surprised. "It's already late, Ran. Just use my cell phone and tell your friend to bring it tomorrow."

As if it's that easy, Mom. I put some reminders in my cell phone, so when I lost it I might end up forgetting things. I quickly went to my room, placed my bag, took my wallet, and replaced my coat with a white jacket before going downstairs again. "I'll be back in a bit." I said to my Mom and Chen.

"Do you need me to go with you?" My mom offered.

"I'll be fine on my own." Then I took the streets.

To be expected, the streets were dimly lit. It was only lit by the street lights and whatnots. There were not many people on the streets that time. Well, that was dinner time anyway.

… I should have at least eaten something before I left. I'm hungry.

I took the train to the station near the Scarlet Mansion. From my house, the trip was more than an hour, a tad longer. It was getting late, and the people were slowly decreasing. I was worried that a burglar might come out from a bush or something, but I dismissed it as burglar cases are rare these days.

Just some more walking to do and I would reach the mansion. When I was walking on the empty streets, my fears were confirmed. There were rustling sounds from the bushes on my right. I thought it was the wind, but it doesn't sound natural at all. I decided to just quicken my walking pace. As my pace increased, the rustling sound gets louder, too. I'm starting to get even more worried as sweat drops started to come out from my forehead.

The rustling sound wasn't created by wind at all. I confirmed that because I started to hear faint footsteps. I looked back for a moment, but I didn't see anyone. I am now half-running; I desperately want to get to the mansion quickly. I just hope that it's not a burglar, or even worse, a… pervert.

To hell with it, I'm out of here. I started to run towards the mansion. The footsteps get louder and louder…

Why is no one around?

Then I suddenly felt a large hand grab the hood of my jacket and pulled me to the bush. The moment this happens, I screamed in shock. I was flung to the grassy ground by that hand. What kind of person that can throw me so easily with one hand?

I landed face-down, so I lifted my upper body a bit and checked my surroundings. There was no one a-

My thoughts were cut as something heavy landed on my back. A pair of hands grabbed my struggling hands. I quickly speculated that I am going to be… violated. I screamed for help, but then I remembered that no one was around.

"Help… Someone… Anyone…!" I tried desperately for help. No one comes.

"You are mine…" A voice from the person on top of me came out. His voice sounds like he's chewing gravel.

Seriously, **why is no one around?**

"Hey, you there!"

Oh praise the gods, there's someone! I can't see clearly who it is as I am being pinned, but the voice was female. I heard some 'whoosh' and 'smack' sound before the person on top of me stopped pinning me and flung to the side. I acted on instinct to stand up and went to my savior.

Then I looked carefully at the person who saved me. She stood there, carrying a… broom, on her left hand. She wears a highly noticeable black magician-ish hat with a ribbon on it. Her dress is black with some white for the collar and the short sleeves. An apron is also tied to her waist. Her hair is familiarly long, curly blonde with the left burn of her hair braided and tied with a ribbon at the end. I said the very first thing that came to mind.

"You okay?" she asked.

"… Marisa?"

"Look, you might think that I'm cosplaying or anything, but I'll explain everything later." She said as she adjusted her large hat. "… Or tomorrow. Let me deal with this thing first."

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"Things happen. I'll explain later."

A growl can be heard from where the 'violator' was flung to. It revealed itself as a… monster. No, seriously. He looked like a big white werewolf. Just think of a big, furry white wolf that stands on two legs and has dangerously big claws.

… Is this some sort of a movie shooting?

"How dare you to disturb me…" The 'thing' said.

"It's my job." Marisa said to it proudly.

"Should I call the police?" I asked Marisa.

"Don't get them involved." She replied immediately. "I can handle this."

What is she trying to do? Get 'violated' herself? That thing is obviously a big pervert who dresses as a werewolf because of bestiality fetish!

"Have it your way!" he shrieked. "**I will eat you both!**"

It's gonna rape us both? The 'thing' then ran to the both of us four-legged. Marisa, do something! As if on cue, Marisa lifted some sort of a card on the same hand as the broom. "**Love Sign**!" She shouted. The card flashes, and then she took out something from her pocket and aimed it to the wolf thing. "**Master Spark**!"

A large flash and a loud 'whizzz'-ing sound can be heard afterwards.

…

* * *

…

"… I'm home." I announced.

"Welcome home again." My mom greeted. "See, you're so late. Chen's asleep already. What happened to you, anyway? You look so tired. And rather dusty at that."

"Things happen." I quickly replied. "I'm going to sleep. Good night, Mom."

"Wait, Ran. Did you get your cell phone? Why is your jacket dusty?"

"I have the cell." I said quickly as I went to the stairs. "Good night."

I heard my Mom was protesting and asking some more stuff, but I ignored her. I just want some good night's sleep for now.

Too much things happen.

…

…

**- Chapter 3: End -**

* * *

**A/N**: Didn't I tell you that this chapter will be longer?


End file.
